The last time the Edmonton Oilers were at American Airlines Center, it took just 7:09 for the Oilers to take a 2-0 lead, for Dallas Stars coach Pete DeBoer to pull his starting goalie and for the coach’s job to be in jeopardy.
It marked the 15th time in 18 playoff games that Dallas sacrificed the first goal.
When the Oilers made their return to Dallas for the teams’ first meeting of the 2025-26 season, it took two seconds fewer for the Oilers to build the same lead and for the Stars to sacrifice the first goal in the eighth of their last nine contests.
But unlike last year’s Stars, this year’s group has found a way to be resilient in those situations — and through what’s been a trying stretch of games for Glen Gulutzan’s team.
Sports Roundup
The Stars have secured points in seven consecutive games after their 4-3 shootout win over Edmonton Tuesday night. Despite a taxing schedule, consistent early deficits and a myriad of injuries, the Stars have found a way to keep earning points night in, and night out.
Related
“I think we’ve always been a team that has a lot of patience and kind of that no-quit attitude,” Stars forward Wyatt Johnston said.
Since the season began, the Stars have played every other night except for on three occasions where an extra day separated a Saturday game from a Tuesday game. Last week, they played three games in four days, and they’ll do the same this weekend, facing Anaheim, Nashville and Seattle between Thursday and Sunday.
But their top players, including Johnston and Mikko Rantanen, who each had three-point games Tuesday, have carried them through.
They’ve had to since the Stars have also been more injured in the last few weeks than they’ve been in years. Nearing the month mark of the season, Jamie Benn is still a ways away from returning from his surgery. Roope Hintz and Matt Duchene have been day-to-day for multiple weeks now. Dallas lost a third of its top four centers Tuesday when Radek Faksa was a late scratch.
The Stars had to use 11 forwards and seven defensemen instead of the typical 12 and six for the third time in four games.
“When I see success in this league, it’s when the teams get into a rhythm,” Gulutzan said the other day. “It’s really hard to get in a rhythm when you keep losing pieces along the way.”
Dallas is so shorthanded and strapped for roster spots and cap room that when Gulutzan announced a day early that Jake Oettinger would miss the Stars’ game Tuesday for the birth of his child, the team couldn’t call up a backup goaltender in his place. Instead, Oettinger sat in between the benches and backed up Casey DeSmith instead of being home with his wife and newborn.
It’s difficult to assess Gulutzan’s success as Stars head coach given all the skill that his team has been missing. But Tuesday’s game against his former team that eliminated the Stars from the playoffs the last two years was going to be a measuring stick game regardless of who was in the lineup.
The Stars’ performance was a microcosm of the season so far. Despite injuries and some sloppy play at times, the Stars found a way to do just enough to walk away with something to show for their efforts.
The Stars are still looking for consistency on the ice and may not find it until their lineup is consistent. But Dallas is just days away from that — and it’s stacking meaningful points in the meantime.
“I think the team is grinding,” Rantanen said. “We’re pulling together. It’s not easy when you lose two elite centermen. It really helps when those two are in the lineup, but guys are coming up in different roles and making plays, and we’re finding ways to get points on the board. And it’s really important.”
Find more Stars coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.